Terrain roughness is a significant factor to consider when modelling wind farms because it affects the assessment of wind resources. Accurate wind resource data enables WindSim's simulations to more accurately predict a wind farm's annual energy production (AEP) and therefore its profitability.

Assigning roughness is a tedious, error-prone task for wind farm designers. Obtaining reliable elevation data, dealing with file format inconsistencies, manually estimating roughness, and editing maps are just some of the challenges they face. Last year, WindSim and Intermap began collaborating to streamline this process.

Now, WindSim's advanced CFD-based wind farm design software is integrated with Intermap's high-resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) and canopy height models (CHMs) generated by its advanced NEXTMap® countrywide 3D mapping program spearheaded by its proprietary IFSAR technology. The integration delivers a powerful solution that includes automating the assignment of roughness height at high resolutions superior to methods typically used today.

"This is another example of our continuous thought leadership in the wind resource assessment space. We proactively seek complementary advanced technologies to embrace and extend so our WindSim users can quickly and easily implement them, realize their benefits, and gain commercial advantage," noted Robert D. Buckley, president of WindSim AMERICAS. "Intermap's ability to add value in this effort was crystal clear."

"Partnering with WindSim was a natural for us. Together, we strengthened our respective product offerings so our wind energy industry customers could more easily perform essential tasks during their wind resource assessment efforts," commented Kevin Thomas, vice president of marketing at Intermap. "Our shared goal is to enable the industry to increase efficiencies and help increase the production of renewable energy."

The new Terrain Editor in WindSim 4.9.2 adds further value by enabling interactive inspection and easier editing of high-resolution maps. It also allows you to create custom roughness datasets. WindSim users can now easily extract Intermap's elevation data as well as the canopy height layer for better simulations. Additionally, WindSim developed a new Variable Height Forest Model to take advantage of the available canopy height data, which is particularly important when dealing with complex forested regions.